Move stands in sharp contrast to statements of recent gaming and music chiefs

When
it comes to piracy, Berth Milton -- CEO of the Private Media Group,
one of the largest adult entertainment companies and the first one
that’s publicly traded on NASDAQ -- isn't quite as anal as some of
his colleagues in the gaming, music, and film industries. He
says that the entertainment business is looking at unauthorized
downloads in entirely the wrong way.

In a market saturated
with stiff competition, Milton says that there's nothing dirty or
nasty about illegal downloads; they often lead to legal purchases
when users experience and enjoy the product. He states, "We
will be extremely happy the more people are pirating our content and
the more they look at it."

He said that media copyright
watchdogs' attempts
at stopping piracy are doomed. He comments,
"I think it’s a lost battle. I look at my own kids,
because that’s the best way to know where the market is going. It
doesn’t matter if I tell them that it is illegal to download. As
soon as they close the door to their room, they download. They
are not afraid of someone who’s tracking their IP-address. They
just don’t care. It’s a new world and we have to accept
it."

Under Milton's leadership the company is looking to
penetrate new markets geared towards turning piracy into profits.
His company is increasingly retailing luxurious vacations with an
adult theme, sex toys, and other sex tools to help viewers relive in
real life the escapades they see in their pirated videos.

Milton's
approach stands contrary to that of the much of the entertainment
industry that looks to whip the unruly internet user base into
submission. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden recently
compared piracy to breaking into the fine jewelery story
Tiffany's. And the music copyright watchdogs are pushing hard
to implement prison
time for those who share music. One film maker recently
said that he hopes that even the children of
pirates end
up in jail.

Piracy isn't the only topic to get the
industry all hot and bothered, though. Recently copyright
groups have fought to outlaw
making backup copies for personal use and used products,
which one game studio chief remarked was as
bad as piracy.

Milton's logic
seems simple -- customers will pirate, but are still more than willing to blow a load of cash for appealing products. And he may well
be right; a recent study showed pirates are biggest
legitimate purchasers of music, on average.

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